Transitional Aid Research Project (TARP), 1976-1977 (ICPSR 7874)

The Transitional Aid Research Project (TARP) was a
randomized field experiment conducted in Texas and Georgia in
1976-1977 that was designed to reduce recidivism among ex-prisoners by
lowering incentives for re-engaging in property crime through
provision of minimal levels of income support and extension of some
unemployment insurance coverage to released prisoners. This study
evolved out of an earlier LIFE (Living Insurance for Ex-Prisoners)
study conducted in Baltimore, Maryland in the early 1... (more info)

The Transitional Aid Research Project (TARP) was a
randomized field experiment conducted in Texas and Georgia in
1976-1977 that was designed to reduce recidivism among ex-prisoners by
lowering incentives for re-engaging in property crime through
provision of minimal levels of income support and extension of some
unemployment insurance coverage to released prisoners. This study
evolved out of an earlier LIFE (Living Insurance for Ex-Prisoners)
study conducted in Baltimore, Maryland in the early 1970s. In the LIFE
study, 500 prisoners with a high probability of re-arrest were
randomly assigned at release from prison to experimental and control
groups which varied by the amount of money received (contingent upon
employment or unemployment and job placement services provided). The
results showed that ex-prisoners receiving payments were less likely
to be re-arrested for property theft-related crimes than those who
received only job placement or no services or payments of any
kind. The United States Department of Labor commissioned the TARP
experiment, designed to replicate the LIFE experiment while providing
a larger and more representative sample of prisoners, greater
variation in treatment conditions, and administration of payments and job
placement services through existing agencies rather than by a special
purpose project staff. Texas and Georgia were the states chosen for
the experiment, and stratified random samples of inmates were
assigned, at the time of release from prison, to experimental and
control groups. The groups varied in the amount of money and job
placement services they received upon their release. Originally, the
data were recorded in nine files for each state corresponding to each
of the nine different sources of information for each TARP case. The
ICPSR data collection combines these into one file for each state:
Part 1 for Texas, and Part 2 for Georgia. Each file contains over
1,500 variables, clustered in nine topic areas for each inmate: (1)
prison history (e.g., background information, psychological and
aptitude test data, and prior criminal and present incarceration
activity), (2-5) data from four personal interviews (conducted at the
prerelease, three-month, six-month, and 12-month stages and that
include living arrangements, employment history, and financial
status), (6) state arrest data, (7) records of TARP payments received,
(8) social security wages, and (9) parole records.

Universe:
All prisoners in Georgia and Texas eligible for parole who
were not returning to unsampled rural counties, who were not returning
to live outside of the state, and who did not have existing warrants
or detainers against them.

Methodology

Sample:
Stratified random sampling was employed to obtain 2,007
prisoner participants in Georgia and 1,975 prisoner participants in
Texas, who were then assigned to one of six experimental and control groups
when released from prison. The experiment lasted one year beyond that
date.

Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of
disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major
statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to
these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: